When I “met” Dior’s Mitzah for the first time, I thought to myself, “Oh, I know all about you,” and quickly dismissed it as redundant. It smelled like my perfume cabinet, a mix of many of my favorite things—very nice, yet utterly familiar. Mitzah was written off, perhaps a little too soon (if my dwindling decant is any indication), and I moved on. Not all Deja vu experiences are the same.
Birgit sent me a sample of the precious liquid that is Frapin 1697–precious because it’s a limited edition (1697 bottles in all creation), it’s expensive, and, more than anything else, it means a lot to her. Sitting at my desk on the day of it’s arrival, curiously examining the innocuous looking little vial, I carefully crack it open and lean in for a preliminary sniff…
sharp intake of breath, a whoosy, intoxicated feeling–disorientation, falling, joy and heartache, a sense of pleasure and eminent loss… I catch my breath and pull my head away.
It’s deja vu. A deep, collective unconscious kind of deja vu.
It’s a beautiful stranger passing you in the city. You lift your head and eyes meet for a moment that lasts an eternity—a “what might have been” glance passes between you, spanning a fraction of a second, and, without missing a beat, you move on. There’s a dissonance inside you that you can’t explain; brushing it off you refocus your attention, and the moment is lost.
This is Frapin 1697.
beauty on the outside 
You moved me to tears. Thank you.
Sometimes it seems strange, trying to explain to people why I am so passionate about perfume. Frapin 1697 perfectly illustrates my stance.
So beautiful, Dee… heartbreakingly so. I’ve been wanting to give Frapin 1697 a try, and now I must!
Thank you Carrie—it’s almost bizarre how moving this combination of alcohol and essences is; I mean, it’s just ingredients blended and poured into a bottle… and yet it’s everything intangible at the same time.
I’m still awestruck by it: these few paragraphs took something like a month for me to put down!
More! More!
I rather resented having to pay 8 euros plus postage for my sample from First In Fragrance but, though it is yet to arrive, I don’t regret it. There’s no way I could carry on without experiencing Frapin 1697 after the way you and Birgit have reacted to it! You really are a talented writer, Dee.
Hahaha, thank you so much Tara! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it, especially after having it built up so much by the two Queen-Enablers… 😉
B has gently, but firmly pushed me in the direction of Eau D’Ambre and now you’ve pushed the Frapin button: I’m close 15 Euro minimum spending on samples on First in Fragrance. Any other suggestions??!! ;-D
No, seriously. I truly know what a difference a fragrance makes. There are days that are glued together merely by the joy a fragrance provides.
Today I spent a good hour fragrance sniffing in my local department store. Just what I needed. I said “long time no see” to Estee Lauder Private Collection, nodded and confirmed that Amber Ylang Ylang is beautiful and that Bronze Goddess is yumminess in a bottle. Found out that Prada Amber is easy comfort in liquid form. Discovered that Cacharel Noa – which is really nice – is available in a 25 ml botle which I will probably buy next week. Was reminded that Marc Jacobs smells good on a colleague but isn’t for me – don’t want to smell like apple juice. At home I hugged no. 5 and said thank you for always being by my side. I found Tocade in my underwear drawer, smiled and put it back down for safe keeping until fall. And I sniffed L’eau Ambree and wondered if I really need Prada Amber as well. When going through my makeup I found my Portrait of a Lady sample and rejoiced and realized that when I run out of Un Jardin sur le Nil I will have to repurchase because it is briliance and beauty with the presence of a vast, calm and clear body of water.
Perfume matters 🙂
Beautifully put, Marie 🙂
Dee, what an exquisite gem of a post! I have a major girl crush on a number of perfume bloggers, you and Birgit among them. Now I think I have a crush, too, on commenter Marie up above me. She stated this love we all share so well. 🙂
Between Birgit and you, I am all ambered up and have been swooning over my decants of Frapin 1697, Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche, and (the one that is too dirty for most), MFK Absolue Pour le Soir. Perfume lovers are certainly an inspiring bunch!
Have a great Sunday. 🙂
Suzanne, you sure have a way with praise! Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
Marie’s passion is contagious! I love that about her.
Mwah, ha ha ha… another perfumista has come over to the brown side!
[That doesn’t have quite the same ring to it on “paper” as it does in my head, but if you could just imagine me rubbing my cold little paws together with delight and laughing maniacally, we’ll be on the same page 😉 ]
As a relatively new perfumista, I was reluctant to spend that much money on a limited edition absolu perfum, but after receiving my sample from luckyscent.com, I broke down and made the “investment”. Bottle # 1352 arrived and at first I had mixed emotions about even spraying it…something about the value of a limited edition bottle 10-15 years from now, but I couldn’t resist! The top note of rum quickly blends down to the smokey, earthy notes and this fragrance has great sillage! I’m not sure if the sample was not the same potency…maybe an eau de parfum, because it only stayed with me about three hours, but my #1352 stayed with me for the whole day. I could even smell it on my pillow when I woke the next morning. This fragrance is definitely worth the price I paid for it!
I LOVE that you refer to it as “bottle 1352”!!! Oh my gods, I want a bottle soo bad, and when I get mine, I’m going to refer to it by it’s bottle number too! You can look for my future post, which will be titled simply, “Bottle number n”
1697 seems to become such a personal fragrance to those who fall for it—and I don’t mean personal in the sense that we spray it on our person! That it is so moving, to what are probably such vastly different personalities really intrigues me.
Thank you for commenting Stillkimmi 1, I hope to “see” more of you! 🙂
Dee,
It’s such a beautiful story! Thank you.
I know that the gender distinction in perfumery is a relative thing but in my personal experience I prefer wearing “feminine” or at least “unisex” fragrances…
I don’t know… I was impressed already by Birgit’s review and now yours… Should I order a sample before it’s too late and all bottles are gone?..
Thank you Undina!
I would say, order a sample just to experience it, if nothing else (it’s just a few dollars, right?), and if it resonates with you—it will be an experience you’ll be glad to have had. If it does nothing, you aren’t out much money!
I want a bottle, but I’m planning to wait. There are only a few things currently on my wish-list, and I’m going to buy them in the order they arrived on said wish-list. So if I don’t get to this until Fall… I do hope it won’t be sold out, but hopefully, if fragrance fanatics are beating down the doors for it, they’ll release a non-limited edition!
🙂
What is the first FB on your “to buy” list?
Oh no, THE question! LOL. I should have been prepared for this, given my last comment. 😉
Number one on my “to buy” is, at long last, Bois des Iles parfum! (let’s see if it actually happens, haha!)
Dee, I’m only just finding this review. I just got a sample of this yesterday and immediately bought a bottle. The only comment I have on your beautiful review: “Holy shit, that’s beautiful”. Just like the scent.
Thank you so much jen! It’s truly a breathtaking fragrance…